Animated jigsaw puzzle



Feb. 12, 1952 DI A ZARLENGO 2,585,419

ANIMATED JIG-SAW PUZZLES Filed Oct. l, 1949 INVENToR. Y @QM/wc ,4. ZAaE/vao ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 12, 1952 Uurrso stars' i AThis" reverie@ relate-a ttatgrig'ritjbe termed" ar'anir'iat'ed jig-s'atv'pu'zzle, and has foi't's'prin; cipal object, theprovision ofajig-saw puzzle vvhicli can be assembled? theus''al jiesaw Style; nu n which', after'v assembly; Y mpvem'e'rit may be impartdto the various. figures thereof to give'v an animatedA effect to the complete puzzle.

Y ofthe invention' t 'rfovide means incorporated' in thejigfsaw piecesthem selves forv *transmitting movement from one figure tolanther so that all elerer'itsl each cvmipleted` puzzle vvillk move in unison when any oiffthelflguresof the completed puzzle picture are moved- Qther objects and advantages reside the detail vconstruetion of .the invention, which isV designed for Simplicity, economy, and eiiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

Insthe following detailed description ofthe iul vention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like umerais refer' to `like parts infall'vievvs of' the dravving and throughout the description.

I-rrthe'drawinga Y Fig. 1 is a facen view of a back board designed to receive the elements of thev improved jig-saw puzzle:v

Fig. 2v is a cross-section through the board oi Fig. 1, taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1 v

Fig. 3 illustratesl a group f puzzlepieces. to be used'forv completing a picture puzzle on the board of Eisfl;

Fig. 4 illustrates thepuzzle pieces of Fig; 3 in their proper places on the board of Fig. 1; and* Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, detail view, illustrating an alternate form of' mounting puzzle pieces on the board.

'Theinvetion is applicable `Ato an endlessvariety of different pictures and puzzles. typical one of these is illustrated in the drawing, it being understood that the pieces and the picture may be varied to suit any desired composition.

The playing board comprises a solid backboard I 0, preferably having a raised border strip Il. The board is provided with fixed design portions which are secured to the backboard I0 and become a permanent part of the complete board. These xed design portions, of course, depend in design upon the particular picture being depicted upon the board.

The picture depicted upon the drawing is "Humpty Dumpty, and to carry this out a fixed block l2 representing a. portion of a wall; a sec- Only a ingn castle in thedista'nee, are permanently* mou-fired Qnjthebackboari In, and ferma; part thereof. These blocks and the face of thuebo'ad arel suitably ornamented to form the background orxed portions of the picture. x A The xed blocks aridutheA border strip` H are uniform m thickness. The'waubmek l2 i'spro-` vided with a circular notch- I 6, andthe fore` ground block L3' is alsoV provided with similarci'r cular notches. Il and lli.y y n y Y The fHumpty Dufnptyv lictiirlf ills'tinaiid del picts` Humpty Durnpty himself, togetherr with the knight and a dogQ The` puzzle pieees'fo'rc assembling this particular'picturey are designated by numeral for identification purposes in thev various` views by the numerals |9jto 26 inclusive. Certain of these pieces have simplythe'usual jigsavv contour to allow them tcbe fitted together in fixed relation. Others are designed to provide movement to the assembled giires. i y

vAttention is called to piece 23, Whifclifisprovvided with a substantially circular tal`29l'vvhich' rotatably lits into the circular'ntch i6 V of: the

wail block l2, and to pieces 2z and 216i, whih aref providedV with substantially ci''ulai" tabs' 30`ar1d 3l vif'hi'eli' fitifntb the ottfes IT a I8, respecuveljyf twie'foregroufnaibleek le. These circular tabSQekid' their respective' Circular notches allow the figure pieces to rotate about the axis of the circular notches.

nlS/,I'eainsl are-provided in various Wayfe for rtransl m ing the'movementfr'ni one completed picture i another. In the embodiment illustrated, connecting linkmerfii'b'ers 21 arid 2'8` are provided. link mrr'iberzlis' formdwitl a rounded notch-32 at its one extremity arid asimilar nteli 33'at its other extremity'. The Iotcli 3,2 receives aoircularitab 3ds-(inthe piece 24, `and fthe circular notch 33 hooks' into af cicilas'obkt 35 t6 transl#- mit movement from the knight to Humpty Dumpty.

The link 28 is provided with substantially circular notches 36 for receiving rounded tabs 31 on the pieces 22 and 26 to transmit movement from the knight to the dog of the particular picture illustrated.

The puzzle pieces of Fig. 3 are assembled into the board of Fig. 1 similarly to the usual assembly of a jig-saw puzzle, the final result appearing as in Fig. 4.

It can be seen that if movement is imparted to any of the figures of the picture, this movement win be transmitted to an of them to cause y 3 the "knight to rock back and forth on his horse simultaneously with the rocking movement of Humpty Dumpty on the wall and the dog in the foreground. Guide blocks, such as illustrated at i5, may be employed to assist in holding the connecting members in place if desired.

While the figures of Fig. 4 have been connected by connecting link members, movement could also be imparted from one figure of a picture to another by having a portion of one figure inserted into a receiving notch in another gure. Such a construction is illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein a rounded projecting portion 39 of a iigure 38 is inserted into a receiving notch in a second figure ID, to transmit movement to the latter.

The completed figures in the picture of Fig. 4 all rotate about axes external of the figures. They could, however, be arranged to rotate about axes internal of the figures if desired. Such a construction is indicated by the circular bosses 4| and 42 of Fig. 5 which are fixed to the backboard and over which figures 38 and 40 are placed, the latter being provided with circular openings for receiving .the bosses. It can be readily seen that the entire figures may be be rotated about the axes of the bosses 4| and 42.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An animated jig-saw puzzle comprising: a backing board, flat iixedvpicture portions mounted in spaced predetermined positions on the front face of said board, a plurality of picture units lying fiat against said backing board in the same plane as the xed picture portions and capable of oscillatory movement, coacting means between the movable picture units and the respective fixed picture portions to rockably connect the units to the respective fixed picture portions, and means operatively connecting the movable units to one another for causing all of said movable units to oscillate on said backing board when one of said movable units is manually oscillated.

2. An animated jig-saw puzzle comprising: a backing board, flat fixed picture portions mounted in spaced predetermined positions on the front face of said board, a plurality of independent picture units lying fiat against said backing board in the same plane as the fixed picture portions and capable of oscillatory movement, each of said picture units being formed from a plurality of iiat intertting picture puzzle pieces, coacting means between the movable picture units and the respective iixed picture portions to rockably connect the units to the respective iixed picture portions, and means operatively connecting the movable units to one another for causing all of said movable units to oscillate on said backing board when one of said movable units is manually oscillated.

3. An animated jig-saw puzzle comprising: a backing board, fiat iixed picture portions mounted in spaced predetermined positions on the front face of said board, a plurality of independent picture units lying iiat against said backing board in the same plane as the fixed picture portions and capable of oscillatory movement, each of said picture units being formed from a plurality of fiat interiitting picture puzzle pieces, coacting means between the movable picture units and the respective iixed picture portions to rockably connect the units to the respective fixed picture portions, and means operatively connecting the movable units to one another for causing all of said movable units to oscillate on said backing board when one of said movable units is manually oscillated, said last mentioned means comprising link members extending between and operatively connected to the movable units.

4. An animated jig-saw puzzle comprising: a

. backing board, flat fixed picture portions mounted in spaced predetermined positions on the front face of said board, a plurality of independent picture units lying flat against said backing board in the same plane as the fixed picture portions and capable of oscillatory movement, each of said picture units being formed from a plurality of flat intertting picture puzzle pieces, coacting means between the movable picture units and the respective fixed picture portions to rockably connect the units to the respective fixed picture portions, said coacting means comprising a substantially circular shaped tab formed on the edge of one of the movable picture units and a substantially circular shaped notch in the adjacent edge of the complementary fixed picture portions receiving the respective tab, and means operatively connecting the movable picture units to one another for causing all of said units to osoillate on said bacliing board when one of said picture units is manually oscillated.

DOMINIO A. ZARLENGO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Great Britain Oct. 24, 1918 

